Church Growth Bulletin Vol 2

Author Donald A. McGavran is considered a founder of the Church Growth Movement in America. In this 3rd edition of his standard work, McGavaran analyzes the causes, methods and strategies for successful church growth both in America and abroad.

During the past twenty years the phenomenon of church growth--especially as it has been known under the dynamic leadership of Donald McGavran and the School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary--has resulted in an impressive array of books, articles, reports, and theses. While freely acknowledging their debut to the church growth school, the contributors to this volume wish to explore further the premises, principles, and goals of church growth. Firmly convinced that church growth is more than empirical data and effective methods, and that there is nothing approaching a complete book of church growth, they aim not simply to offer definitive answers but rather to open up fresh lines of inquiry--historical, experiential, methodological, and theological. Thus, while interacting with previous studies, the authors view their work as a constructive contribution to the search for a more adequate understanding of church growth patterns. Contributors to this volume include Alfred C. Krass, Harvie M. Conn, Orlando E. Costas, John H. Yoder, Harry R. Boer, and C. RenŽ Padilla.

Highly respected New Testament scholar Craig Keener is known for his meticulous and comprehensive research. This commentary on Acts, his magnum opus, may be the largest and most thoroughly documented Acts commentary available. Useful not only for the study of Acts but also early Christianity, this work sets Acts in its first-century context. In this volume, the second of four, Keener continues his detailed exegesis of Acts, utilizing an unparalleled range of ancient sources and offering a wealth of fresh insights. This magisterial commentary will be an invaluable resource for New Testament professors and students, pastors, Acts scholars, and libraries.

Has the church growth movement failed to stress the social dimensions of the Christian faith? Dr. Peter Wagner, a leading exponent of church growth, argues that Christians can evangelize and churches can grow strongly, while at the same time participating in the global struggle on behalf of the poor and oppressed - for justice and peace, for brotherhood and liberation, and for the alleviation of human suffering.

A commentary in essay form covering the period following K. S. Latourette's A history of the expansion of Christianity published 1937-45.

Ecclesial Futures publishes original research and theological reflection on the development and transformation of local Christian communities and the systems that support them as they join in the mission of God in the world. We understand local Christian communities broadly to include traditional “parish” churches and independent local churches, religious communities and congregations, new church plants, so-called “fresh expressions” of church, “emergent” churches, and “new monastic” communities. We are an international and ecumenical journal with an interdisciplinary understanding of our approach to theological research and reflection; the core disciplines being theology, missiology, and ecclesiology. Other social science and theological disciplines may be helpful in supporting the holistic nature of any research, e.g., anthropology and ethnography, sociology, statistical research, biblical studies, leadership studies, and adult learning. The journal fills an important reflective space between the academy and on-the-ground practice within the field of mission studies, ecclesiology, and the so-called “missional church.” This opportunity for engagement has emerged in the last twenty or so years from a turn to the local (and the local church) and, in the western world at least, from the demise of Christendom and a rapidly changing world—which also affects the church globally. The audience for the journal is truly global wherever the local church and the systems that support them exists. We expect to generate interest from readers in church judicatory bodies, theological seminaries, university theology departments, and in local churches from all God’s people and the leaders amongst them.